But Grip, Eriksson's fellow Swede who is already working for the England camp after leaving the Rome club last year, says Lazio's loss is England's gain.

"There isn't a manger who hasn't experienced what 'Sven' is now going through," said Grip.

"In some ways it would have been nice for him to stay in Italy and have everything go well at Lazio. But at the same time it's great that he's now coming over here and we can work together. I've been a little lonely lately."

Grip added: "Sven-Goran Eriksson was not fired. He was very uncertain before Monday's meeting with the club's president. But then I didn't hear any more about it and I thought he had decided to stay at the club.

"But he recognised that it wasn't exactly working out to plan. It was a bit strange because training had gone really well since the Christmas break and the team had seemed really alert.

"But the loss to Napoli was a bit of a shock for him and it made his mind up. He hadn't expected the team to play so poorly. It was a real kick in the teeth for him.

"He left of his own free will. The president has always said that he would never sack him. It is entirely Sven's decision to leave. Now he's going to come to England which is good for me."

Grip believes that Eriksson will show up in this country before the weekend and they have already begun planning for the England team.